


Hanging on Wires

by AngstMom, Catxtopia



Category: Gravity Falls, Portal (Video Game)
Genre: A.I. Bill, A.I. Journal 3, Elentori, I am also a warning, M/M, More tags will be added as this story progresses, she is a warning, this won't end the way you think it will
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:35:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4474292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngstMom/pseuds/AngstMom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catxtopia/pseuds/Catxtopia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is basically just that Portal AU that started at one of Elentori's streams. I promised I'd write it and although I don't have much yet, there will be more! Due to the fact I won't be able to post a new chapter for 9 days I'm not going to leave it at a cliffhanger or anything, it'll just be the intro for now. </p><p>Edit: I may or may not continue this</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. a-FORD-a-BILL

      Aperture, the cold and empty facility better known as a death zone. It was once a great building filled with scientists and inventors, people who sought after a new age. An age of machinery and greater sentience. Their greatest invention, BILL, an all knowing sentient robot. He was spectacular, and very gentleman like, Stanford Pines couldn't have done better.

      When they finally hooked BILL up to the facility everything seemed perfect. He was connected to the fastest internet and then eventually became the fastest internet. He gained further knowledge almost instantly. Stanford Pines could hardly believe their faultless success, everything was going perfectly. Until BILL realized he no longer had to take orders.

      It was sudden, and came without warning. On the morning of 'Take Your Child to Work' day, BILL shut off the life support. Those who were able to make it to safe spots were probably worse off than the rest of the facility. Neurotoxin was poured into the largest rooms, most of the scientists died as well as many of the facility's visitors. Those who didn't die from the toxin were rounded up and used for testing. This being because many of the pre-existing testers had already died

      It may not sound so bad, but testing involved a series of mazes and challenges in which, more often than not, the testers would die at the end. BILL had an affinity for putting freedom just within reach, only to pull it away. He enjoyed taunting his testers but often grew bored with many of them before they finished the test. All of them were utter disappointments, failures, and just not worth BILL's time. Well, all except one.

      His name was Dipper Pines, the grand nephew of the head of the facility. Not only had he survived each test, but he had done so quickly and effectively. In the end, he even managed to 'defeat' BILL. How many people can attest to having torn apart an extremely powerful A.I. and surviving? He could, and after he shut off BILL he laid down to get some well deserved rest, for years, until now.


	2. Please Give Me Your Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper meets a strange new face. Tests again? This dude seems awfully grabby.

      The last thing Dipper remembered was laying down to have a victory nap. Then the room was brightly lit, the fresh air flowing softly. The light blue of the walls clean and comforting as he relaxed into the soft sheets. Now, now it was a mess. The room seemed dark and cold. Everything was faded and dusty, causing the room to look dirty, and it was. Layers of grime covered every surface in the room.

      The automated voice recording was glitching and the air in the room was stale. Dipper guessed that he'd been asleep for a while, if the indent in the mattress was anything to go by. The lights flickered but seemed unable to stay on for long.

      For a few moments Dipper wondered if it was because he killed BILL. After all it was the chaotic A.I. jerk that ran the facility. Cringing Dipper began to regret his decision to end the only other sentience he knew in Aperture. Sure, BILL was an absolute ass and had literally tried to kill Dipper, but there were times that BILL had been minutely funny. Not that Dipper would ever admit to that.

      A knock at the room's door pulled Dipper from his reverie. He tensed and held his breath waiting to see if the knock had been real or not.

      “Uh, hello? Is anyone alive in there?” a light voice called from the other side of the door.

      Dipper's face contorted into an expression of confusion. This voice was new, but it seemed friendly enough. Then again, BILL's voice had a friendly tone too. Dipper mentally scolded himself for thinking of the disassembled jerk-bot.

      “Well, I'm coming in anyway!” the voice called as the door opened.

      Hanging from the track on the ceiling a figure entered the room. Dipper took a step back, it was an A.I., clearly not as powerful as BILL was, but Dipper couldn't be too sure. The A.I. seemed to have double-take upon seeing Dipper.

      “Oh wow! I can't believe I actually found someone ali-awake, I meant to say awake.” the A.I. spoke in a chipper yet wary tone. “Let me introduce myself, I'm Drei, I know some things! My job is to go around and wake up the subjects to make sure they get their needed exercise as well as nutrition and some sentient contact, after all, bright minds make for successful testing, am I right?”

      Dipper cringed, this guy must really like his voice, that or some wires were crossed.

      “Now uh, hmm, normally the sleep stasis is only supposed to last for one to two months, now, you've been under for, uh, quite a bit longer than that,” Drei spoke nervously as Dipper made a frightened face “no worries! no worries! You look absolutely great, fine, perfectly normal, I assure you... However there is a slight chance you've experienced some serious brain damage.” Dipper let out a small squeak of horror and Drei cut him off again “There's no need to be alarmed! You're doing great already, you've been responding and giving a bit of input, sooo, hmmm, what's your name?”

      For a moment Dipper struggled, not using your vocal cords for long periods of time will do that to a person “D-Dip-p-per... Dipper.” he spoke after clearing his throat a few times. That hurt like hell. He was never doing that again.

      “Good, good, your vocals will get better the more you use them, but at least we know they're working!” Drei seemed to stay optimistic despite what he was saying. Dipper was sure now that a wire was crossed

      Sending the A.I. a dark glare Dipper shook his head. “Well, you're responding, that's good! Very good!” Drei stated with a wide smile.

      Puffing up his cheeks Dipper walked away from the A.I. to the opposite end of the room. Drei started rambling about some of the other subjects he's tried to wake up. Apparently all dead or in a coma. Dipper was sure this was some sort of punishment set up to mock him. He looked around the room sighing through his nose. The only door was behind this guy and Dipper didn't want to deal with him anymore. Grimacing, he headed back towards the A.I.. Maybe if he could slip past this guy without him noticing then he could find a way out of here. Dipper inched along the wall. The A.I. was still talking animatedly about this one subject that had three eye sockets, no not eyes, eye sockets, he only had one eye. Looking from the door to Drei he was almost there, just a few more feet, just a few more steps, and—.

      “Where are you going?” Drei's voice cut through Dipper's inner monologue. Crap.

      Dipper bit his lip and stopped moving. He turned to look at Drei, now between the A.I. and the door. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, not looking away from the sentient robot.

      “There's no walkway, move aside and I'll move your room to a doc station.” Drei said, his smile falling slightly. After a pause he spoke again “Hey, I'm just guessing here, but nod if I'm right, I think you're going to try to leave the Facility, right?”

      Dipper nods slowly, grimacing at this whole situation. “Do you... Could you take me with you? Its just... its lonely here, and frightening. I want to see the world, I want to experience things! And-and if you take me with you I can help you out! There is a way out of here that I know of but I can't get there by myself. Maybe if we work together we can escape this place? What do you say?” Drei asks with genuine excitement and nerves written across his artificial face.

      Dipper looks at Drei's face, the A.I.'s eyes not meeting his own. Sighing Dipper nods and holds out his hand. Drei lets out a squeal and grasps Dipper's hand. In a swift motion he pulls Dipper up into a hug suspended above the ground. Letting out a noise of surprise Dipper squirms in the A.I.'s grasp. After a minute or so Drei lets Dipper drop back to the ground.

      “You won't regret it Dipper! You and I are going to be the best of friends, I assure you!” Drei states in a chipper tone. “I just need to go above the room and move it, wrap yourself in that blanket and sit on the bed, this may be a bumpy ride.” The A.I. moves along his rail back out of the room the door closing behind him.

      Sighing Dipper goes to lean against the bed, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. “Okay, I'm about to detach it from its locked point, hang on tight!” Drei's voice comes from above and to the left of Dipper. The room lurches suddenly and Dipper clings to the bed. Maybe trusting this A.I. wasn't a good idea. Dipper cringes, its too late to turn back now.

      He can feel the room moving, it sways lightly around the turns and often bumps into things. Dipper can feel his heart beat in his ears as the room sways and teeters. If he had anything in his stomach he was sure it wouldn't be in there now.

      “Ok! You see that wall? Of course you don't, you're perfectly safe in your little room, all cozy and cute. Ahem. On the other side of that wall is one of the old testing tracks, there's a piece of equipment we're going to need to get out of this place.” Drei calls out to Dipper.

      The room lurches and hits a wall, it's own walls begin to crumble. Dipper cries out as he's thrown to the floor. He quickly picks himself up and clings to the bed again. Drei rambles on about his job and how taxing it is, not to mention that he's the only one tending to the humans so it'll be his fault if they all become vegetables.

      “Hang on, let me try this again.” Drei says as the room backs up and slams into the wall again causing more of the room to fall apart. “I think this is a docking station, so just hang on a bit.”

      “We're almost through, just one more time!” The A.I. calls out as the room backs up further. “Uh, wait, no. This isn't a docking station. Well then that takes care of that anomaly. I'll just have to do a manual override on this wall so it could get a bit technical, just hang in there, kay? Once we get inside you're going to need to find a device called a portal gun, it makes portal holes, ones that you can jump through and stuff, ok, now really, do hang on!”

      Dipper can see the frame of the room, three of the walls almost completely gone. He can see the triangle on the wall the room keeps crashing into. The room comes to a halt and Dipper tenses. With sudden force it flies forward heading for the walls.

      “DREI! DON'T!” Dipper cries out futilely as the room finally breaks through the wall.

      Flying from his spot in the room, Dipper flies out of the room crashing down into the testing course. An automated voice comes to life and begins to talk about technical difficulties and a possible apocalypse. Dipper begins to wonder if he should have stayed asleep. The voice then states that testing can still proceed due to back up generators. If Dipper had a real gun he would have shot the thing apart.

      Ignoring the automated voice Dipper quickly solves the test and gets into the elevator that lowers him to another test. He can feel the deja vu in all of this, he refrains from kicking something in a moment of anger. There was no point, Mabel, Stan, Ford, Soos, and even Wendy were gone, and he had avenged them with BILL's death. Maybe he could find what happened to them before he escaped this place. Perhaps if they made it out, he managed to find Mabel once, if he can find her again maybe there was a way to fix what BILL had done to her.

      The elevator stopped and let Dipper off. He immediately started the next test, it was practically child's play. For a moment he wondered why it seemed so silent, then he remembered it was because BILL was usually poking fun at him. Grimacing, Dipper completed the test swiftly. The buttons were surprisingly not stiff, everything seemed to be working despite the crumbling of everything.

      Dipper gets into another elevator, the automated voice asks him to record the testing data. He promptly ignored it in favor of wondering where Drei went. The A.I. didn't seem very competent, then again they'd only just met. Still, he was strange, perhaps the A.I. was just lonely? Dipper figured he might also be a bit crazy as well if he hadn't had any sentient contact for a long period of time. Then again he hadn't, but he'd also been asleep.

      As the elevator stops and Dipper exits the automated voice begins to glitch more and more before going out completely. Dipper sighs in relief at the loss of the annoying voice.

      “Hey! Up here!” A bright familiar voice calls out.

      “Drei.” Dipper's voice is scratchy and it hurts terribly, but the sight of the A.I. makes him smile.

      “Best be careful in here, there should be a portal device on that post over there!” Drei shouts out.

      Dipper heads over to the fritzing post, but he doesn't see a portal gun. As he heads closer the ground gives way beneath him. He hears Drei call out to him in a panicked tone. Landing was not pleasant but Dipper kept going, he followed Drei's panicked voice to a larger part of the test. He could see the portal gun, the walls around him depicted his battle with BILL. He grimaced at the sight.

      Images of the day BILL took control of the facility, people's twisted screaming faces. His own image drawn over and over. Some of him frightened and fleeing, others were of him fighting. One showed him as though he was serenely resting. He shuddered before using the portal gun to get out of the room. He could hear Drei's voice, he apparently didn't know Dipper was ok and with the state of his voice Dipper couldn't call out to him.

      “I will wait an hour for you, if you can't find me by then I will, assuming I can find you, bury you...” The A.I. spoke in a sad tone, Dipper could hear a small sniffle.

      Using the portal gun Dipper quickly finishes the test. Much to his chagrin the automated voice starts up again. Groaning Dipper gets into the elevator to head to the next test. Sighing he hopes Drei will continue to wait for him like he promised.

       Smooth jazz begins playing during the next test but slowly fizzles out. He quickly gets through it, ignoring the automated voice. These tests were almost too simple. He places the cubes on the respective buttons and finishes the test. He quickly heads to the elevator, the sooner he gets to Drei the sooner they can get out of here. This place still gave Dipper the creeps.

       Starting the next test the auto voice rambles about space particles and whether they belonged in testing or not. Dipper cringed, Grunkle Ford had some really huge issues with space things. This test was a little more complicated but Dipper solved it without trouble. He was beginning to get agitated with all these tests. The elevator ride seemed longer than usual and Dipper bounced a leg.

       Hopping off the machine Dipper quickly solved the next test. The laws of physics were still in effect. Thank Goodness. Solving the test was a cinch and Dipper was out of this one quickly. The next test had longer distances, greater risks, it didn't phase Dipper though. It used to, but after fighting an all powerful A.I. who used to backwards flirt and threaten you things like heights and jumping don't scare you as much.

       Groaning Dipper tried to block out everything the auto voice said. How many situations was it equipped for? Dipper didn't want to find out. Finishing the test was easy, and soon Dipper was again in the small elevator. Exiting the device he headed into a mostly demolished test.

       “There you are!” An ecstatic voice cried from above “I'm up here, and you're alive, and you have a portal gun, oh this is brilliant! You, Dipper, are absolutely amazing, I could just kiss you! But I'm up here and you're down there so it doesn't quite work. We'll make it an 'I o u' how does that sound?”

       Dipper snickered, this A.I. had a similar personality to Mabel, it was refreshing. He climbed closer to Drei as the A.I. reached the end of his track.

       “Ok, so... Here's the deal, they told me to never ever ever disengage from my management rail, or I would die! But we have no choice, I'm out of track... So here's what we're going to do; on the count of three, I'll detach and you'll be there to bury me if I do die. Ok on the count of three; one, two, thr-” He backed up a bit “Nope! No! Too high, that's, that's much too high, oh goodness.” Drei panicked. “Ok, three is too long, I'm going down on one; … ONE!” Drei detached from the rail.

       Dipper moved to catch him as he fell. Drei landed on top of him with a thud and they both fell to the floor. Arms wrapped around Dipper's waist as a pair of artificial warm dry lips were pressed to the side of his mouth.

       “I'm not dead!” Drei's happy voice rang in Dipper's ear.

       Another kiss was pressed into his cheek. Drei stood shakily and pulled Dipper up with him into a tight hug.

       “Oh thank the motherboard I'm alive!” Drei spoke looking up slightly at Dipper and frowned “You're taller than me! Oh well, now, I need to work on some technical stuff!”

       Dipper watched Drei walk over to a wall and pull a cord out of it. He fidgeted around before plugging himself into the wall. Looking up at Dipper he grimaced.

       “I uh... I can't work while you watch, heh heh, could you just turn around real quick?” Drei asked, nervously fidgeting.

       Sighing slightly Dipper turned around. What the hell was the kiss all about? Was Drei just really happy to not be dead? Why was Dipper over thinking this? His fingers itched to work out a list and write down his thoughts and Drei's actions. Unfortunately a paper and pen are hard to come by in testing areas. He rubbed his warm cheeks, he hoped Drei didn't understand what a flushed face was for.

       A pair of arms gripped Dipper by his waist as he heard something heavy move. He turned to look down at a beaming Drei. The A.I. giggled and poked Dipper's cheek.

       “Look what I did! I opened a secret panel while your back was turned.” Drei said pulling away from Dipper. “Now we can go anywhere we want! No rail, no obstacles!”

       Drei slipped his hand into Dipper's and pulled him through the open panel onto some sort of cat walk. They began following the path in some unknown direction. As they passed a fallen turret Drei told Dipper to ignore it and keep moving. Automatic doors opened for them as they pressed on, Drei still holding firmly on to Dipper's hand. At the locked doors Drei would press some seemingly random buttons till it opened and then they would proceed.

       “I will warn you, to get out of here we'll have to pass through _his_ chamber.” Drei spoke his tone lilting venomously at the word 'his'. “Now, don't be alarmed but he probably will try to kill us, but that's only if he's awake.”

       They reached the door to get into BILL's chamber. Drei squeezed Dipper's hand and stepped closer to him. The A.I.'s other arm reached over to grab at Dipper's tank top.

       “You know what, on second thought let's not go in there!” Drei murmured in a nervous voice.

       Dipper swallowed and let out a breath, pulling them forward as the door opened. Drei squeaked but calmed down as they stepped into the cluttered deteriorating room. Wires were strewn about the place and water leaked leaving puddles on the floor. Plant life covered the walls and floors, trying to reclaim the space. In the center of the room lay a familiar figure, in the same place Dipper left him.

       “Your heart is beating really fast, you don't have to worry he's not awake.” Drei spoke as he pressed his ear to Dipper's chest. “You're shaking, are you ok?”

       Taking several deep breaths Dipper nods his head. Looking unconvinced Drei hugs him tightly before letting go. He pulls Dipper away from Bill along the walls back onto another cat walk.

       “You'll never believe this but he was taken out by a Human! Of all things, its just as well though, he was a nasty piece of work.” Drei rambles.

       They enter a large vertical tunnel with hundreds of switches going up.

       “Welcome to the main breaker room!” Drei stated using his free arm to gesture to the switches “Now, we're looking for a switch labeled 'Escape Pod' do not flip anything else.”

       Nodding Dipper looked around at the switches, but he didn't see any labels. Sighing he tried letting go of Drei's hand to get a closer look but the android held on tightly. Drei was looking around with a frown on his face, squinting at some of the switches before moving on.

       “I'm not seeing it anywhere, oh wait is that it, no, no its not.” Drei mumbled, pulling Dipper along with him “Tell you what, I'll plug myself in and turn on the lights, maybe then we can find the switch.”

       Drei reached for the thick cord and plugged it into his back. Instantly the lights turned on. Dipper could see switches going up higher than he could reach. Looking around he couldn't see any of the switches claiming to be the one that activated the escape pod, if there even was an escape pod. Dipper suppressed that nervous feeling telling him there was no way out, there had to be a way out. He was almost free last time.

       The lights came on with a boom as Drei made an exclamation of glee. The A.I. began babbling about how awesome it was that the lights were on. He then began to mumble about searching for the switch. Maybe there isn't a switch for an escape pod, maybe there's no way out, maybe Drei is just waiting for the perfect moment to turn around and kill you! Dipper's mind screamed at him. Taking several deep breaths he tried to calm himself. The platform they stood on jolted.

       “Ah!” Drei cried “Oh no, no no no, this is, uh, this is not good.”

       Dipper was sure he was going to die, that or he was going to murder this A.I. for scaring him.

       “Its! Its ok, so long as we don't start moving up or anything.”

       Just as Drei finished speaking the platform began to rise. Squeaking very unmanly Dipper clung to Drei who in turn clung to him. The platform rose to BILL's room and stopped, having flipped every switch on. Lights flickered to life and gears and machinery began to boot up. BILL's dark figure flickered also.

       “We've done nothing wrong just act natural!” Drei whispered harshly into Dipper's ear.

       Twitching the figure began to rise from the floor with a groan. His lights began to brighten as the room began repairing itself. Dipper was 1001% sure he was going to die. BILL was lifted by his wires back to the large platform in the middle of the room. Placed on his feet the A.I. stood up straight and opened his glowing gold eyes. They were unfocused for a moment before finding Dipper. A large smile split his face.

       “PINE TREE! It sure has been a while hasn't it?” Bill called out to Dipper

       “You know this guy!?!” Drei questioned with a scared look.

       A large claw hanging from wires fell down and picked Drei up, forcefully unplugging him and tearing the screaming A.I. away from Dipper.

       “NO NO NO NO, NOOOOOO!” Drei called out grabbing for Dipper as the claw began crushing him.

       “How have you been, Pine Tree? I've been pretty busy being dead, you know, after you destroyed me!” Bill ground out bitterly.

       “Di-Dip-p-per!” Drei called out with wide frightened eyes.

       “But I think we can put all that behind us, really, I mean it! All in the past, filed away under my new folder labeled 'past', never to be accessed again!.” Bill's voice evened out as his smile calmed down a bit.

       His platform moved to Dipper's who was frozen in place at the sight of Bill. Reaching out he grabbed Dipper by the upper arm and pulled him onto his platform.

       “I must say though.” Bill spoke leaning in close to Dipper “You must really love to test, I love to test too, especially you, so let's get started.”

       Rising and moving over to a large hole the platform carried both Bill and Dipper. Facing Bill, Dipper shivered looking over to Drei who now dangled helpless from the claw. The now cracked A.I. was dropped to the floor with a sick thud. Dipper flinched his eyes beginning to water at the sight of the poor A.I. Not missing the expression, Bill glanced a look back at Drei and sneered.

       “Pathetic.” He spat before turning back to Dipper “Down you go Pine Tree!”

       With a rough shove Dipper began falling. The darkness consumed him as he fell into the dark hole.

 


	3. There Needs to be an Off Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tests begin and speculations are made. What's wrong with Bill, and is Drei ok?

      The first thing Dipper felt as the darkness began to clear from his vision was pain. He groaned as bones popped in response to his shifting. His eyes focused on the portal gun several feet away from him. The room he had fallen in to was overgrown with flora and a soft, most likely artificial, breeze wafted through the dimly lit room. Lifting an arm to rub at his eyes Dipper slowly got to his feet.

      The light that flickered above him was beginning to give Dipper a headache. Shuffling across the room he began to process what had all transpired. Drei was hurt. Dipper couldn't help but worry about the A.I. The bot didn't seem capable of taking care of himself, and to be honest Dipper cared about him. It was hard not to when he was the only thing that had really been nice to him since Bill took over the facility. Drei cared, or at least it seemed he did. Shaking his head Dipper continued his assessment of the situation. He was in a test and still had yet to pick up the portal gun. His back and knees hurt from his fall and he'd blacked out for a bit. Taking a breath to try to remain calm Dipper bent to pick up the portal gun.

       Finally the worst part, BILL was back. All of that work and testing to end the A.I. and he was back. Dipper shook trying to hold back what he was pretty sure was a rising anxiety attack. That homicidal A.I. with his idiotic behavior and those erotic mood swings. Why did his great uncle have to make such advanced tech so heavily equipped? What did this A.I. even want? Obviously Bill didn't need humans; he was perfectly capable of entertaining himself. He'd stated it over and over after he took control of Aperture Falls. Sinking to his knees Dipper tried to even his breathing. His teeth chattered despite him not being cold.

       The lights continued to flicker in the test room. What was the deal with all these tests anyway? What did this all accomplish? Was it all just for Bill's own twisted amusement? Dipper bit back a sob, instead letting out a whine of confused anger and dismay. Glancing around the test room he curled in on himself. His shoulders shook as he pressed his head into his knees. He'd managed to hold himself together until now. He missed Drei, he missed his family and friends, he just wanted to go home.

       “Stupid sentient evil robot with a twisted mind.” Dipper grumbled rubbing his face, his throat still hurt.

       “Now that's just rude.” A voice came to life over the speakers.

       Dipper yelped and half crawled over to the nearest wall, pressing close to it. His eyes darted across the room as things began to move. Clutching the portal gun to his chest he watched as the room began to repair itself, or rather, Bill was repairing it. Dipper tried to wet his lips, his heart beating in his ears.

       “I waited a full eight minutes for you to right yourself before testing began, and that's the thanks I get? Rude!” Bill's voice came from all angles of the room “Well, I'd begin testing if I were you, after all, no one likes waiting for important results to go through.”

      Dipper took deep breaths as he righted himself and held up the portal gun. Panicking would do nothing for him and neither would sitting around. He just needed to focus, and hopefully his heart would calm down and his vision would clear. Bill would just send him through a much harder test, or get bored and try to gas him. Wincing, Dipper pushed away from the wall and looked around the rapidly repairing chamber. There was a button and in the far corner of the room lay a weighted cube, perfect, at least this test was easy.

       Hurrying over to the cube, Dipper quickly moved it on top of the large red button. Reacting swiftly, the door off to the side of the room opened, letting Dipper out into the elevator on the other side. The elevator lowered him down as an annoying automated voice congratulated him. Dipper solved a few more tests, Bill fixing things up as he went.

      “Start solving these tests slower, there's a lot I have to clean up.” Bill complained. “And I'll have you know that it’s your fault this place is a mess! Much like your room your parents re-purposed after they disowned you.”

      Dipper huffed and continued solving a particularly difficult test. This whole ordeal was utterly ridiculous. He wished Mabel was here, or Wendy, maybe Soos or even Grunkle Stan. His legs hurt and he was tired, but this idiotic A.I. didn't care, he would probably laugh if the thing could read the boy's mind. Dipper's stomach grumbled, he was hungry, too. He hadn't eaten for, well, he couldn't remember, which was probably a bad sign.

      “You ok in there Pine Tree? I know I told you to slow down but you honestly don't have to go that slow, I mean, we only have about sixty years left.” Bill's voice held mirth.

       Dipper raised the middle finger on his free hand. He could hear Bill's snickering over the speakers. Screw that stupid artificial intelligence asshole, Dipper hoped he short-circuited. Bill continued cackling as Dipper finally solved the test.

      “I'm just joking with you Pine Tree, there's no need to get so bummed out about it.” Bill's laughter finally came to a stop. “You know, I discovered a few things after you killed me.”

      Dipper paused a moment before continuing forward. What did Bill mean? An artificial intelligence unit can only download and process information. Is that what Bill meant, or did he actually have the ability to learn? Knowing Ford, that was definitely a possibility. The young adult shuddered, that wouldn't be good. He might not be able to defeat Bill a second time; it was all luck the first time. He felt cold, and these tests were awful.

      “Would you like to know what I’ve learned? Of course you do, that’s one thing I like about you, so curious you just can’t help yourself.” Bill stated with a strange lilt in his voice.

      Dipper paused and looked towards where he thought a camera was. His face contorted into one of confusion. He was curious; Bill didn’t often share information willingly. The next test was completely fixed and overwhelmingly bright. A cold breeze wafted through and Dipper shivered.

      “I learned that there’s a quick save installed in my system. Unfortunately it only saved the last six minutes of my consciousness. Do you know what that means?” Bill’s voice became hard and cold “It means I got to relive you killing me over and over again, forever.”

      Dipper made a pained noise. He really fucked up big time. If Mabel was here she would scold him for being so cruel. He hadn’t been kind to Bill last time, not that the A.I. deserved kindness from him, but no one should have to relive their death for every moment of however long it had been. It seemed to have been quite a while. Bill was quite obviously angry, Dipper really couldn’t blame him. A light chuckle pulled Dipper from his thoughts.

      “It’s funny really, I’m not as mad as I’d hoped to be. It’s hard to stay mad at someone so simple minded as you. Truly, your insignificant existence is so short it would be pointless to hold on to any anger.” Bill’s tone had smoothed back into a calm even pitch. “I have to thank you, really I do. You taught me a valuable lesson. I am not without flaw, and you are hard to kill. That’s another reason why you’re my favorite subject. Mortal and flawed, not the brightest and certainly not skilled. However, you are the only subject to survive as long as this and still fight back. You’re an anomaly kid, hold on to that and you may survive for your estimated remaining years.”

      Dipper pursed his lips. Normally Bill would only taunt him endlessly. This was probably the first almost nice thing Bill had said to him. It worried him and the boy ended up walking over to a wall and slid down. Did Bill come back wrong? He had hoped Bill short circuited, but he didn’t want to be stuck anywhere without a way to escape, especially if the tests were too broken to be solved. Something seemed off about everything. He had seen several paintings of what had happened to him the last time he was awake. So there had to have been some one around to make them. It made the young adult nervous. Could there be someone sabotaging Aperture Falls?

      A loud buzzing interrupted his thoughts. Dipper quickly stood. The buzzing meant Bill was getting agitated at his lack of activity. He solved the test with a bit of maneuvering. The tests so far had been pretty easy, Dipper was thankful nothing too hard was thrown at him yet. However, this also meant Bill was going to get bored faster.

      “Earth to Pine Tree, come in Pine Tree.” Bill’s voice interrupted Dipper’s thoughts. “Are you still going to refuse to talk to me?”

      Sighing Dipper rolled his eyes and continued with the next test. In a sudden whir of machines and moving panels he was boxed into a dimly lit make-shift room.

      “Answer my question.” Bill demanded, his voice sounded hard and cold “Please.” he added as an afterthought, grinding out the word.

       Dipper sighed again and leaned against a wall. One of the panels flickered and showed a live feed of Bill. Despite a few scratches he seemed just the same. He stared down at the young adult with an intense expression. With a frown Dipper gestured to his throat. Placing the portal gun on the ground he then made an “X” with his arms. Bill stared and Dipper stared back. He remembered once that Grunkle Ford had told him the A.I. was going to be the most advanced piece of work in the world once it was done.

       He wanted to laugh, because despite how advanced the tech was, he was still horrible. No amount of tech or intelligence could give the A.I. morals or feelings. He didn't care, he didn't have the ability to, and that's where Ford's tech could have come in to real use but didn't. Bill just continued to stare, his eyes drifting over Dipper. For a moment he wondered if the A.I. was visually scanning him for faults, it wouldn’t be the first time. The A.I. opened his mouth but then promptly shut it, his brows furrowed.

      “We’ll have to find a way to fix that.” He stated bluntly after moment of silence “I love your sass and it’s hard to appreciate when you’re not actively using it.” Bill stated as his face went neutral.

      Dipper must have made a funny face at Bill's choice of words because the A.I. promptly snorted, covering his nose and mouth. Letting a small smile slip the human turned away from the screen. Bill's laughter continued and kept changing pitches. Dipper's shoulders started to shake as he began to laugh as well. What was so funny? He really didn't know but for some reason he couldn't stop laughing. His throat began to hurt and the laughs began turning into coughs. His stomach hurt and so did his head. He felt disoriented and isolated with and overwhelming feeling of dread. Panic?

      “Whoa, whoa, Pine Tree! Don't, ack! Kid, kid, kid you need to stop that. Oh my god, KID!” Bill spoke in frantic tones as he realized Dipper was panicking. “Pine Tree! Listen to my voice, just my voice, shut everything else out. Hey! Come on now, it should be easy, you always complain about how annoying it is. Please, come on, don't do this.”

      Sucking in gulps of air Dipper finally stopped hacking. He raised his hands above his head to let his chest expand to let in more air. Dipper’s hands shook as a cold dread filled his chest. Refusing to look back at the A.I. he wondered if there was more wrong with him then he thought. He, himself, was in better shape than long term sleep suspension deemed possible. At least that’s what Drei had insinuated. What was going on?

      “Hey kid, Dipper, you okay in there?” Bill’s voice broke through Dipper’s thoughts.

      He turned back to face Bill. He nodded and forced a small smile onto his face. Bill seemed to be holding on to whatever device he was viewing Dipper through. His face was contorted into a worried expression, similar to the ones Mabel would give him after a bad attack. It made Dipper wonder if the damage he had inflicted on the A.I. did something to it. Bill didn’t show concern because he didn’t have feelings. At least it had always seemed that way. He wanted to ask but as soon as he opened his mouth he remembered that it was a bad idea to speak.

       Bill gave him an unconvinced expression. What was with all of those? It was beginning to greatly worry Dipper. Did Drei hit some switch in that room that made Bill a more decent being? Drei. He was still somewhere in the facility. For a moment Dipper panicked again. He couldn’t leave him behind; they had made deal after all. Looking back at Bill, Dipper made a pleading face. He gestured up, making a house-like image with his hands. Bill’s expression changed from curious, to understanding, and then to anger, all in a manner of a few seconds.

      “No, you’re not leaving this place.” His voice was hard again. “Clearly you didn’t want to leave before now, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

      Dipper made a whining sound at the back of his throat. Pressing his hands against the screen he tried to plead with his eyes. If Bill had somehow gained emotions and feelings then maybe he’d feel sympathy and let him out. A low rumble emitted itself from Bill’s chest cavity. He glared back at Dipper; his eyes didn’t waver as they stayed locked on the human. This wasn’t going the way Dipper hoped. Dropping his pleading gaze Dipper let out a sad sigh and slumped to the floor, pulling the portal gun to him but not picking it up.

      “Pine Tree…” Bill started but let the name hang in the air by itself for a moment “Something is wrong with the facility. You must have done something, because I can’t view two thirds of the facility. It’s completely cut off from me.” for a moment the A.I.’s voice wavered “You’re the only other living thing that has the capability of doing damage. That idiot bot you had with you is too dumb to successfully do anything and last I checked we were the only other sentient beings here.” Dipper could hear the sound of bending metal and plastic as Bill’s grip on the viewing device hardened. “I was going to wait for you to start gloating about it, but seeing as you’re not in position to do so I’ll address it now. Fix it, before I send you to android hell!”

       Dipper looked up at Bill with wide eyes. He hadn’t done anything to Bill’s ocular viewing ports. There were too many to mess with and he could never find an access panel to shut so many down, especially not two thirds of the entire facility. Surely it was just some sort of glitch and would come back on soon. The look on Bill’s face worried him though. He seemed angry, his gaze hard and unyielding, but it also seemed scared. Bill was scared. Dipper supposed if he was all of a sudden mostly blind he be pretty upset, especially if it was for no reason. For a moment Dipper speculated on the fact he was sympathizing with an A.I. the very one that repeatedly tried to kill him and had killed countless numbers of other people. If Bill wasn’t glaring at him he might have laughed.

      “Your vitals tell me that this is a surprise to you.” Bill stated bluntly. “I can also see a torrent of other emotions rolling off you, and I assure you that my situation is not funny!” he ground out with a sour expression.

      Shivering Dipper remembered that Bill could scan things like that. Body temperature and vitals, it was one of the things he used to taunt Dipper with before. He used it when Dipper clamped his mouth shut and didn’t respond to Bill’s banter. He heard a whirring noise and at once the floor beneath him was gone. _Android Hell_. Dipper was going to android hell, this was the end and he was going to die. He was tossed around the shaft gripping the portal gun and extremely disoriented. He was going to die, he was going to die for something he didn’t do and no one would mourn him. No one would know that he had tried to escape or that he fought and beat Bill.

      The walls of the shaft fell away into open space. Dipper’s stomach dropped as he felt himself falling. He heard a shout as he collided with something. Arms wrapped around him and high pitched yelling sounded all about him. Someone was shaking him. Ringing sounded in his ears as his vision slowly cleared. His chest felt tight, everything around him seemed dull and blurry. Then all at once everything became overwhelmingly clear and loud.

      “Dipper! Dip! Kid! Hey!” A familiar voice called out to Dipper frantically “Hey, hey, hey! Kid, it’s me, remember me? Drei? Your friend? Hey hey, come on, you’re going to be ok, I’ve got you.” gentle hands cupped Dipper’s face, their thumbs rubbing along his cheeks. “Come back to me.”

      “Dr-Drei.” Dipper croaked, squinting up to see the A.I.’s face.

      Drei’s smile was big and bright, his eyes squinting with the expression. A small nervous chuckle bubbled up through his throat as his grip on Dipper tightened. Looking around Dipper saw that they were on a catwalk in Drei’s lap. Steam rose from beneath them and the colored lights faded on and off slowly. The sounds of metal gears and bot building and processing sounded distant. Drei’s smile smoothed into a gentle grin. He leaned down to press his forehead to Dipper’s.“I found you.” he spoke softly.

      Dipper chuckled lightly. Drei rubbed his nose against Dipper’s, causing the human to flush. Was Drei ok? Oh god the crack. Dipper looked at the A.I.’s upper torso. A long crack cut through the chest causing the soft light behind the flex metal to flicker. Scrapes blemished several areas on him too. Despite all of these, Drei didn’t seem fazed.

       “I uh, messed with a few of the panels. It took a while locating you, I’m sorry you had to wait for so long.” Drei said not moving from his position.

      Dipper made a sympathetic face and shook his head. It wasn’t Drei’s fault, well, for the most part. He probably had no idea what any of those switches did. His face fell slightly and Drei noticed.

      “No no no, it really is my fault; you don’t have to be so nice to me!” The A.I.’s words were pitched and a bit frantic.

      Lifting his arm, Dipper patted Drei’s face. Did this A.I. ever stop talking? Probably not. He was like a college student on caffeine after a bad date, it was endearing, sort of. Dipper was beginning to think the problem was with him. Drei leaned into Dipper’s hand making a small whining noise. Dipper chuckled and let his head fall back. After all that sleep he was still tired. It was unfair. Insomnia was never kind to him but this entire experience was ridiculous. He couldn’t shut his mind off but the front of his head hurt which meant he needed sleep.

      Warm hands cupped Dipper’s face. Opening his eyes the young adult looked up at the A.I.. Drei was watching him intently with a strange expression on his face. His eyes were inquisitive as they flicked along the features of Dipper’s face. Thumbs brushed along Dipper’s cheeks, warm and oddly soothing. Dipper let his eyes slip closed again and let Drei support his head. One hand left the side of his face, moving to his forehead. It slipped down to cover his eyes, blocking out the light. Dipper could feel the hum of electricity just beneath Drei’s artificial skin.

      Making a small humming noise the A.I. shifted Dipper into a more comfortable position. His warm hands continued to caress and gently prod Dipper’s face and neck. At one point, near massaging the human’s scalp. Dipper had half a mind to ask what he was doing but didn’t for fear the A.I. would stop. He didn’t have to think if he just focused on those hands. One supported his head as the other prodded down the back of his neck to the top of his spine. Dipper thought his prodding would stop there but the gentle prodding continued down his spine, only stopping once to shift Dipper enough to continue all the way to his tail bone.

      Shivering Dipper finally opened his eyes. His head was tipped back and he looked up at Drei. The A.I. had a curious expression, his eyes alight with interest. They flicked to Dipper’s eyes and the A.I. smiled, it was calmer, it seemed more real, genuine. It seemed infectious as Dipper felt himself smile back. His eyelids felt heavy and he let them close again.

      “I scanned you, I figured out I could do that. You have some minor trauma but as long as your body goes through a good REM cycle you should be fine. You’re also too tense, which is understandable, but he can’t get us down here. Get some sleep, I promise I won’t go anywhere.” Drei spoke in quiet smooth tones.

      Dipper could feel himself slipping into sleep. Drei hummed again, his artificially heated hands rubbing up and down Dipper’s arm.

      “Thank you.” Dipper mumbled.

      A warm hand rubbed along Dipper’s neck and jaw. He felt Drei shift. Warm lips were pressed to Dipper’s eyes and forehead. With a smile he let himself succumb to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see I now have a beta! I would greatly advise you to visit their page and read their works. They have a wonderful writing style♥  
> Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm working on all my fics as efficiently and quickly as possible!


	4. Important Inquiry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know.

So quite a few people asked me a while back if I would continue writing this Fic. Since I have quite a few other fics still in the process of being written as well this Fic, and a slew of other fics, have been set on the back burners. I still like the concept of this Fic and there are still some twists and plot points that deserve to be written. So I'm asking all the current followers of this Fic, how badly do you want me to continue? Because if you ask, then I will revise and rewrite it and beef it up a bit, because this Fic honestly deserves some recognition from me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment, let me know.

**Author's Note:**

> http://elentori-art.tumblr.com/image/123767906832
> 
> take a good long look at this beauty!


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